Automatically-operating dumping-scow.



e. v. MITCHELL.

AUTOMATICALLY OPERATING DUMPING SGOW.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1910. 972, 9 Patented Oct. 18,1910.

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G V. vMITGHELL. AUTOMATICALLY OPERATING DUMPING scow.

APPLIOATIOF FILED IIBIB. 25, 1910.

Patented. Oct. 18, 1910;

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO WASHlNGTON, n. c.

v G. V. MITCHELL.

. AUTOMATICALLY omanume DUMPING scow.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1910.

Patented Oct. 18,1910.

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G. v. MITCHELL. AUTOMATICALLY OPERATING DUMPING SOOW.

APPLIOAIIQN FILED FEB. 26, 1910.

Patented 061;. 18, 1910.

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Ma /15" m wi/fmmoo G. V. MITCHELL.

AUTOMATICALLY OPERATING DUMPING SGOW.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1910 972,896. Patented 0613. 18,1910.

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GARRETT V. MITCHELL, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATICALLY-OPERATING DUMPING-SCOW.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GARRETT V. MITCHELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bayonne, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatically- Operating Dumping-Scows, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in rotatable dumping scows and particularly to a scow having reversible decks and which is automatically rotated to dump, when loaded, either by turning partially over or by turning entirely over and thus reversing decks and thereafter automatically raised to its light draft.

It has for its object to efiect the automatic rotary movement of the scow, when loaded, by the admission of water thereto in such a manner as to lower the transverse metacenter to such a position as to place the scow in a state of less stable equilibrium, and thereafter effect the automatic raising of the scow by means of the buoyancy restored thereto resulting from the discharge of its load and the buoyancy restored thereto resulting from the gradual exhaust of the water.

It has for a further object to provide means for accurately controlling the admission of water to the scow and the distribution and action of the water therein so as to effect and govern the rotary movement of the scow and for exhausting water therefrom as it rises so as to restore the lost buoyancy of the water compartment.

It has for a further object to provide means for draining the water chamber and the uppermost air chamber when either deck is uppermost.

It has for a further object to provide means whereby an operator can be carried on the scow to manipulate the mechanism, which controls the admission of water thereto for efi'ecting the turning of the scow and for excluding water therefrom after the scow has turned and the water has been exhausted therefrom, and to also manipulate the mechanism for draining the water chamher and the uppermost air chamber.

It has for its object to provide longitudinal combined bulwarks and bilge keels and transverse bulwarks on each deck of the scow, the bulwarks and the combined bulwarks and bilge keels on the uppermost or non-submerged deck of the scow serve to retain its load thereon and the combined Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 25, 1910.

Patented Oct. 18, 1910. Serial No. 545,852.

bulwarks and bilge keels on the submerged deck of the scow serve to give stability to the scow.

It has for a still further object to provide a scow of the character set forth having ad vantages in point of strength and simplicity of construction and perfect operation.

In the drawings illustrating my invention, Figure l is a .plan View of my automatically operating dumping scow. Fig. 2, a side view thereof. Fig. 3, an end view thereof. Fig. 4, a fragmentary detail view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the combined inlet and outlet valves and the frame in which it slides. Fig. 5, a fragmentary detail view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the bulwarks at the aft end of the scow. Fig. 6, a detail view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the forked arms. Fig. 7, a fragmentary detail View, on an enlarged scale, of the central portion of the scow. Fig. 8, a side View thereof with one side of the scow removed. Fig. 9, a fragmentary detail View, on an enlarged scale, of a port-ion of the deck of the scow adjacent one of the manholes and the cover for the manhole and mechanism for operating it. Fig. 10, a fragmentary detail sectional view, on the same scale as Fig. 9, of a portion of the manhole cover and the mechanism for operating it. Fig. 11, a bottom plan view, on the same scale as Figs. 9 and 10, of the manhole cover and the mech anism for operating it. Fig. 12, a fragmentary detail sectional View, on an enlarged scale, of the gears for operating the longitudinal shafts which operate the combined inlet and outlet valves. Fig. 13, a front View, on the same scale as Fig. 12, of the gears for operating the longitudinal shafts which operate the combined inlet and outlet valves.

Referring to the drawings illustrating my invention and in which like reference characters designate corresponding parts, 1 designates the rotatable scow on each deck of which, adjacent its sides, are permanently secured longitudinally extending combined bulwarks and bilge keels 2 and between the ends of the combined bulwarks and bilge keels 2 are fulcrumed bulwarks 3, which serve therewith to retain the load on the scow when it is in a horizontal position in the water.

The combined bulwarks and bilge keels on the submerged deck of the scow, on account of extending longitudinally thereof, offer but little resistance to its being towed and give stability thereto and the bulwarks, on the submerged deck of the scow, on account of being fulcrumed thereon, are raised against said deck by their buoyancy aided by the force of the water against them resulting from the towing of the scow and therefore offer but little resistance to its being towed. 4

The bulwarks 3 are fulcrumed on the decks of the scow by means of hinges 4, the bulwarks at the fore end of the scow being held in Vertical position on the deck, which is uppermost or non-submerged, by their inner ends coming into contact with the deck when in a vertical position and the bulwarks at the aft end of the scow being held in vertical position on the deck, which is uppermost or non-submerged, by means of braces 5, their upper ends being pivoted thereto and their lower ends engaging stops 6 secured to the deck. The bulwarks 3 at the aft end of the scow are adapted to be released and turned up against the submerged deck by reason of their inner ends being spaced therefrom when in a vertical position and therefore being allowed to be turned inwardly slightly by the pressure of water against their outer faces, when the scow is rotating, which disengages the ends of the braces from the stops.

Air-tight chambers 7 and 8 are provided within the scow at the fore and aft ends respectively, by transverse partitions 9 and 10, the aft chamber 8 being for the purpose of carrying an operator on the scow and to provide means for the operator to enter or depart from this chamber from or to either deck of the scow manholes 11 are provided, leading to the decks and having removable covers 12, which, when in place, make air and water-tight seals of said holes.

A circular operator cage 13 is secured to the scow within the chamber 8 on an axis parallel with the axis of rotation of the scow and rotates therewith, thereby providing means which enables the operator to walk on the inner surface of said cage and retain an upright position during its rotation with the scow.

The space between the decks of the scow and the partitions 9 and is divided by transversely extending floors 14 and 15 into air chambers 16 and 17 adjacent said decks for giving buoyancy to the scow and a water chamber 18-, intermediate said air chambers, into which water is admitted for effecting the rotary movement of the scow and from which the water is thereafter exhausted to again place the scow on even keel at light draft. The water chamber is subdivided by transversely extending bulkheads 19 and 20 into chambers 21, 22 and 23 for the purpose of causing a proper distribution of the water in the Water chamber and each of these chambers is provided with a longitudinally extending swash bulkhead 24 for controlling the distribution of the water therein.

Water is admitted into and exhausted from the water chamber of the scow through combined inlet and outlet openings 25 extending through the inner walls of recesses in each side of the scow. Into each of said openings, from the interior of the scow, extends a pipe 26 having a straight branch 27 leading into the chamber 22 and a curved branch 28, the curved branches of the pipes 26 which are nearest the aft end of the scow, leading into the end chamber 21 and the branches 28 of the pipes 26 which are nearest the fore end of the scow leading into the chamber 23.

Valve frames 29 are placed around the openings 25 in the rear walls of the recesses 30 and are secured to the pipes 26 by bolts 31 extending through holes therein and in the flanges 33 of said pipes and having nuts 34 on their ends.

The admission of water into and exhaust of water from the water chambers is accurately controlled by means of pairs of valves 35 and 36, 37 and 38, 39 and 40 and 41 and 42, slidable in ways 43 in the valve frames 29 and having rods 44 extending through stuffing box 45 in the inner walls of the recesses 30 and provided with racks 46 on their ends.

The racks on the rods of the pair of valves 35 and 36 are engaged and slid by a gear 47 secured on a rotatable transversely extending shaft 48, the racks on the rods of the pair of valves 37 and 38 are engaged and slid by a gear 49 secured on a rotatable transversely extending shaft 50, the racks on the rods of the pair of valves 39 and 40 are engaged and slid by a gear 51 secured on a rotatable transversely extending shaft 52 and the racks on the rods of the pair of valves 41 and 42 are engaged and slid by a gear 53 secured on a rotatable transversely extending shaft 54.

A. worm gear 55 is secured on the shaft 48 and engages a worm 56 secured on a longitudinally extending rotatable shaft 57, a worm gear 58 is secured on the shaft 50 and engages a worm 59 secured on a longitudinally extending rotatable shaft 60, a worm gear 61 is secured on the shaft 52 and engages a worm 62 secured on a longitudinally extending rotatable shaft 63, and a worm gear 64 is secured on the shaft 54 and engages a worm 65 secured on a longitudinally extending rotatable shaft 66.

The ends of the shafts 57, 60, 63 and 66 extend through the partition 9 at the aft end of the scow and each has a gear 67 mounted to turn thereon between collars 68 and 69 secured to said shaft by set screws. Each gear 67 is locked to the shaft on which it is mounted by slidable pins 70, the inner ends of which extend through bores 71 in the gear into bores 72 in the collar 68, and the outer ends of said pins are pivotally connected to the outer ends of levers 73 between forks 74 by pins 75 which extend through thepins and engage elongated slots 76 in the forks 7 1. The levers 7 3 are fulcrumed between supports 77 and their inner ends are pivotally connected to a slidable rod 78 by bolts 79 extending therethrough and their ends engaging a recess 80 formed between collars 81 and 82 on the rod 78. The inner end of the rod 78- extends into a bushing 83 fitted into a bore 84: in the end of the shaft on which the gear 67 is mounted and said rod 78 is provided with a lug 85 which engages a longitudinally extending slot 86 having laterally extending terminals 87 and 88.

'The rod 78 is adapted, when moved to its outward position, to be held thereat by turning it in one direction within the bushing and bringing its lug 85 into engagement with the outer lateral terminal 87 of the slot 86, and, when moved to its inward position, to be held thereat by turning it in the opposite direction within the bushing, to that above referred to, and bringing its lug 85 into engagement with the inner lateral terminal 88 of the slot 86.

The gear 67 is unlocked from the shaft on which it is mounted by pulling the rod 78 outward by its knob until the ends of the pins 70 disengage the bores 7 2 in the collar 68, and the rod 78 is held in its outward position by turning its lug 85 into engagement with the outer terminal 87 of the longitudinally extending slot 86.

A gear 89 is rotatably mounted centrally between the gears 67 and in mesh therewith, upon a sleeve 90, the inner end of which is secured in a hub 91 secured to the partition 9 and the gear is rotated on said sleeve by means of a hand wheel 92 formed integral therewith.

In the outer end of the sleeve 90 is secured a threaded collar 93 which is engaged by the threaded portion 94 of a rod 95 extending through said sleeve and which is moved back and forth therein by turning the hand wheel 32, secured on its outer end. The inner end of the operating rod 95 is embraced by the forks 011 the lower end of an arm 96, the upper end of said arm being secured to a transversely extending rotatable shaft 97, there being one of these shafts 97 in each of the other subdivisions of the water chamber. On each end of each shaft 97 is secured a cross arm 98 to the ends of which rods 99 and 100 are connected, the other end of the rod 99- being connected to one end of a hinged valve 101 controlling a draining opening 102 connecting the water chamber with one of the air chambers and the other end of the rod 100 being connected to one end of a hinged valve 103 controlling the draining opening 104 connecting the water chamber with the other air chamber.

A longitudinally extending slidable shaft 105 is operatively connected with the shafts 97 by arms 106 which are a counterpart of the arms 96, the lower ends of which are provided with forks embracing said shaft 105 and the upper end of each being secured to a shaft 97.

By the arrangement of the combined inlet and outlet valves of the water chamber and their operating mechanism, it will be appar ent that, by turning the hand wheel 92, all the pairs of combined inlet and outlet valves will be operated to open or close all their openings when all the gears 67 are locked to their shafts and that when it is desired to allow a pair of the combined inlet and outlet valves to close their openings while the other combined inlet and outlet valves are operated to unclose their openings, it is only necessary to unlock the gear 67 from the operating shaft of the combined inlet and outlet valves which it is desired to have stay closed. It will also be apparent from the arrangement of the drainage valves and their operating mechanism, that when the rod 95 is moved inward, the draining valves will be operated to simultaneously uncover their openings and that when moved outward the drainage valves will be operated to simultaneously close their openings. By providing means for draining the air chambers into the water chamber or the water chamber into the air chambers, water can be drained from the uppermost air chamber into the water chamber and therefrom into the lower air chamber and thus make the scow more stable than it would be if water was allowed to remain in the upper air chamber or the water chamber.

During the rotation of the scow, the operator holds onto the sleeve 90, allowing it to turn within his grasp and thereby supports himself in upright position as he walks in the cage.

To the inner face of each deck around the manhole 11 is secured a frame 108 having depending portions 109 between which is fulcrumed one end of an arm 110 having a worm gear segment 111 which meshes with a worm 112 secured on a shaft 113 rotatably mounted in a sleeve 114: depending from the frame 108, the upper end of said shaft having a. hexagonal head provided with a spanner hole and the lower end having a hand lever, thereby providing means for operating it from the interior or the exterior of the scow. The inner end of the arm 110 is provided with a hub 115 which comes in the center of the manhole and receives an enlarged central portion 116 of a shaft 117, said shaft having on its ends hexagonal heads 118 and 119 provided with spanner holes thereby providing means for operating it from either end. On a portion 120 of said shaft 117 and the upper end of the portion 116 thereof, is mounted the hub 121 of the manhole cover 12, said cover being of greater diameter than the manhole and having a gasket 122 seated in a recess in its upper face adjacent its periphery. On a threaded portion 123 of said shaft 117 and the lower end of the portion 116 thereof, is mounted the hub 124 of a spider frame 125, said hub having a threaded bore engaging the threaded portion of the shaft and radial arms 126 adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from the beveled upper faces of the ends of hooks 127. The portion 116 of the shaft 117 is of such length that when its upper end engages the top of the bore 128 provided for it in the hub 122, its lower end will be out of engagement with the bottom of the bore 129 provided for it in the hub 124 and vice versa. l/Vhen the shaft 117 is turned from either side so that the lower end of the portion 116 engages the bottom of the bore 129, the spider frame 125 will be locked to the shaft 117 and move therewith disengaging the ends of its arms 126 from the ends of the hooks 127, or the ends of the arms of the spider may be disengaged from the hooks 127 by turning the spider by hand from the interior of the scow.

It will be readily understood that to remove the manhole cover, it is only necessary to turn the shaft 117 from either end so as to lower it and it will lock with and turn the spider frame, disengaging the ends of the arms from the hooks and then turn the shaft 113 from either end to turn the arm 110 and lower the manhole cover, and that to replace the manhole cover it is only necessary to turn the shaft'113 from either end to turn the arm 110 and raise the manhole cover and then turn the spider frame by hand from the inside of the scow, to engage the ends of its arms with the hooks 127 on the cover, or turn the cover from the outside of the scow, by means of a hand hole 131 and cause the depending lug 130 on the cover to engage one of the spider arms and move the ends of said arms into engagement with the hooks 127 on the cover.

The operation of the scow is as follows: Assuming the scow to be unloaded, when a load is placed thereon the scow will be sunk to the load-draft resulting from the equalization of the forces of weight and buoyancy and is then ready to be towed to the location where it is desired to dump its load. After it has been towed to the desired location, the operator removes the cover of the manhole, leading through the upper deck into the airtight chamber, descends into said chamber and replaces the cover. He then steps into the operator cage, closes the draining openings of the water chamber and opens the combined inlet and outlet openings of the water chamber admitting water into said chamber on each side to a height somewhat below the top of the swash-bulkhead. This admission of the water results in lowering the transverse metacenter to such a position as to place the scow in the state of less stable equilibrium.

To govern the direction of the rotation of the scow and increase the upsetting moment, the operator closes the combined inlet and outlet openings on one side and as the result of the water now only being admitted through the combined inlet and outlet openings on the opposite side, the rotation of the scow must be and is in that direction and the upsetting moment of the scow is increased by the rush of water over the swashbulkhead also in that direction. The continued entrance of water through the combined inlet and outlet openings on that side to which it is rotating, reduces the metacentric height to zero, after which the scow will continue to rotate until its decks have been interchanged, thus discharging its load. The closed combined inlet and outlet openings are again opened, allowing the water to gradually exhaust from the water chamber and bringing the scow to light-draft after which all the combined inlet and outlet openings are again closed.

I cla1m:

1. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, a watertight chamber adapted to carry an operator, means allowing access to and exit from said chamber, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers, combined inlet and outlet openings for said water chamber located adjacent its floors on each side, valves controlling said openings, means operatable from the operator cham ber adapting said valve to be operated to 110 open or close said openings, substantially as described.

2. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, a watertight chamber adapted to carry an operator, means allowing ac- 115 cess to and exit from said chamber, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers, com bined inlet and outlet openings for said water chambers located adjacent its floors on 120 each side, valves controlling said openings, means operatable from the operator chamber adapting said valve to be operated to open or close a plurality or all of said openings simultaneously, substantially as de- 125 scribed.

3. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers, transverse bulkheads subdi- 130 viding said water chamber, longitudinal swash-bulkheads in the subdivision of said water chamber, combined inlet and outlet openings for said water chamber located adjacent its floors on each side, valves controlling said openings and means adapting said valves to be operated to open or close said openings, substantially as described.

4. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers, transverse bulkheads subdividing said Water chamber, longitudinal swash-bulkheads in the subdivisions of said water chamber, combined inlet and outlet openings for said water chamber located adjacent its floors on each side, valves controlling said openings and means adapting said valves to be operated to open or close a plurality or all of said openings simultaneously, substantially as described.

5. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers and means adapting said water chamber and the uppermost air chamber to be drained into the lower air chamber when either deck is uppermost, substantially as described.

6. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers and draining openings connecting said water chamber with the air chambers, adapting said water chamber and the uppermost air chamber to be drained into the lower air chamber when either deck is uppermost, substantially as described.

7. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers, draining openings connecting the water chamber with the air chambers, adapting said water chamber and the up permost air chamber to be drained when either deck is uppermost and valves controlling said draining openings, substantially as described.

8. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers, draining openings adapt-ing said water chamber and the uppermost air chamber to be drained into the lower air chamber when either deck is uppermost and valves controlling said draining openings, substantially as described.

9. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, a water-tight chamber adapted to carry an operator, means allowing access to and exit from said chamber, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers, draining openings adapting said water chamber and the uppermost air chamber to be drained into the lower air chamber when either deck is uppermost, valves controlling said draining openings and means operatable from the operator chamber adapting said valves to be operated to open or close said draining openings, substantially as described.

10. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, a watertight chamber adapted to carry an operator, means allowing access to and exit from said chamber, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers, draining openings connecting the water chamber with the air chambers, adapting said water chamber and the uppermost air chamber to be drained into the lower air chamber when either deck is uppermost and means operatable from the operator chamber adapted to open or close said draining openings, substantially as described.

11. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, a watertight chamber adapted to carry an operator, air chambers adjacent its decks, a water chamber intermediate said air chambers, draining openings connecting the water chamber with the air chambers, adapting said water chamber and the uppermost air chamber to be drained into the lower air chamber valves controlling said drainage openings and means operatable from the operator chamber adapting said valves to open or close said openings, substantially as described.

12. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, means adapted to contain air, means adapted to contain water, means controlling the passage of water into and from the means adapted to contain water, a watertight chamber adapted to carry an operator and means allowing access to and exit from said operator chamber, substantially as described.

13. A rotatable dumping scow having reversible decks, means adapted to contain air, means adapted to contain water, means controlling the passage of water into and from the means adapted to contain water, a watertight chamber adapted to carry an operator, means therein adapted to allow the operator to retain an upright position during the turning of the scow and means allowing access to and exit from said chamber, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GARRETT V. MITCHELL.

Witnesses:

R. M. LEPPER, J. M. ABRAMS. 

